Galway’s public hospitals had their worst May on record for overcrowding, with more patients on trolleys than in any previous year.
There were 896 patients on trolleys at University Hospital Galway last month, making it the third most overcrowded hospital in the country.
It is also more than one hundred patients more than the next worst May on record, which was in 2022.
Portiuncula Hospital also had an extremely bad month, with 248 patients going without a bed at the Ballinasloe Hospital last month.
This is more than twice as many as the next worst May on record, which was 101 people on trolleys in 2015.
“The number of patients we have seen on trolleys in the month of May are higher than January 2023, when we saw the worst levels of daily hospital overcrowding since the INMO began counting trolleys.”
“This type of overcrowding at the beginning of summer must be immediately addressed to prevent an even more chaotic winter,” INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said.
“Nurses are working in a system that has normalised over 500 people a day on trolleys. They have had little to no reprieve from overcrowding.”
“Our members are reporting high levels of burnout and their intention to leave their current work area is higher than it has ever been.”
Nationwide 11,856 people, including 300 children were on trolleys in the month of May according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
“We need to see a laser-like focus from Government and the HSE to tackling the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals once and for all,” Phil Ní Sheaghdha said.
“The corrective measures we seek are proper planning of the cancellation of non-urgent elective surgery in line with public health projections; pre-arranged agreements with private acute hospitals to provide non-urgent elective surgery; and bespoke retention and recruitment initiatives to be implemented now to ensure staffing for additional capacity that is definitely going to be needed.”
